Moving well equipment downhole into a wellbore during an installation process can have damaging effects on a variety of equipment components. This is particularly true of fragile components, sealing components and components susceptible to bending. Such components can be damaged from impacts with the surrounding wellbore, casing, liner or open hole barefoot sections. The impacts can create abrasions or other damage that limits the functionality of the equipment once positioned downhole. Damage also can result from erosion of component material or contamination of the component in a manner that effects its operation.
In some applications, downhole equipment components comprise seal elements used to form a seal with other components or with the surrounding wellbore wall, e.g. casing. The seal elements can be damaged as they slide through hundreds or thousands of feet of casing before reaching the final downhole destination. Because the seal elements are formed of a plastic or otherwise softer material, impacts with the surrounding wellbore wall, obstructions or other equipment can damage one or more seal elements and limit the ability of the seal elements to form a satisfactory seal downhole.